James Wesley (Wes) Graham, 1932-1999
Pioneer in computer education and software development

Inductee, C.I.P.A. Hall of Fame, 2000

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Professor J. Wesley Graham of the University of Waterloo was a leader in the development of software for education, whose achievements gave Canada an international reputation in this field. The software produced under his direction has been used in more than 40 countries.

"His boundless energy and talents had a significant impact on the lives of countless people," says Don Cowan, distinguished professor emeritus of the Computer Science Department at the University of Waterloo and a colleague of Graham's for many years.

Graham was born in Copper Cliff, Ontario, in 1932. He attended the University of Toronto where he received a BA in mathematics and physics in 1954, and an MA in mathematics in 1955. He worked as a systems engineer for IBM Canada, then joined the University of Waterloo in 1959 as an assistant professor of mathematics.

Graham intended to teach statistics, but was soon attracted to the university's computers. He believed that every scientist and engineer should know how to use them. This was not a widespread belief at that time, since software programs were slow, and any programming error produced an incomprehensible pile of paper known as a "memory dump." Others recognized that existing software was impractical for teaching purposes, but Graham did something about it.

When the university established its computer centre in 1962, Graham became its first director. He persuaded the university administration to invest in an IBM 7040 computer. In 1965, he worked with a team of four students and a junior faculty member to build better educational software for the 7040. This software, called WATFOR (Waterloo Fortran Compiler), attracted worldwide attention from many other universities because it made programming faster and simpler, and correction of errors much easier. This implementation of the software and a later version for the IBM 360 series enabled the University of Waterloo to become a world leader in teaching undergraduate students how to use computers.

WATFOR and its sister, WATFIV, developed a few years later, had substantial impact on the international standards for FORTRAN. Graham and two of his colleagues wrote textbooks for the two software systems, which became models for texts in introductory computer programming.

Business, industry and government began to adopt the new, user-friendly programs. Waterloo's reputation spread beyond the educational realm. Graham was able to attract substantial funding from many major companies such as IBM, Digital Equipment and Hewlett-Packard. Contributions to the university to support software development totaled more than $35 million.

Graham led the development of other software systems that further enhanced Waterloo's international reputation. These included language compilers for COBOL, Pascal, Basic and APL. His research in the early days of microcomputers created some of the first versions of word processors, spreadsheets and database systems.

Meanwhile, Graham's family was growing. He and his wife Helen had six children: Barbara (deceased 1996), Marlene, Jim, Susi, Gordon and Paul.

Daughter Marlene Kipfer of Kitchener, Ont., recalls: "It was important to him that technology was usable by the average person. He would often find ways in his everyday life to apply the technology they were developing at the university. When they developed WATFILE, an early database tool that was a precursor to relational databases, I remember my dad bringing it home from his lab and saying to us, 'Here's your project. See if you can do this!' If teenage kids could make it work, he was sure that business people could make it work."

In the 1970s, Graham worked with colleagues to build pioneering local area networks called Waterloo MicroNET and Waterloo JANET. He also helped design the first computer-studies curriculum for high schools in Ontario. He led the development of much of the software that made it possible to teach computer science to large numbers of students in high schools. He designed one of the first portable computers and its accompanying software for use at the secondary level.

In 1981, Graham helped three of his former students start a company called WATCOM to develop and market educational software. Graham established a model for relationships between the University of Waterloo and spin-off companies that would work to both parties' benefit. WATCOM has become a division of Sybase Canada Limited, and many other companies, such as Waterloo Maple and Open Text Corp., have been established using a model similar to the one created by Graham.

Graham enjoyed being a handyman. After he founded the Waterloo Foundation for the Advancement of Computing, he personally renovated and rewired its building near the campus. As usual, the project involved his family and students.

Graham was also a water skiier, and his children competed nationally and internationally (daughter Susi retired in 2000 as World Cup slalom champion). Graham served a term as president of the Canadian Water Ski Association, pioneering the use of computers in scoring at tournaments. His approach was first used in 1979 at the World Water Ski Championships in Toronto.

Graham received the Distinguished Teacher Award of the University of Waterloo, and the university created the J. W. Graham Medal in Computing and Innovation in his honour. Graham was twice president of the Canadian Information Processing Society (CIPS), and was made an honorary lifetime member of CIPS in 1977.

He retired from the University of Waterloo in 1994. On August 19, 1999, he was invested as an Officer of the Order of Canada at his home by Ontario Lieutenant-Governor Hilary Weston for his contributions to computer science. He died of cancer August 23.

"He was a great leader," daughter Marlene says. His real strength was pulling out the best in people, helping them bring ideas to the surface and grow.

"When he died, I couldn't believe the number of people who wrote and said, 'Your dad made me what I am today.'"